Category Archives: Direct Line Insurance

Detailing my ongoing dispute with Direct Line Insurance, who paid out the wrong person on my car after it was stolen and then recovered. They demanded the car back from, their MD Chris Moat denies responsibility. Read all about it here.

If you’ve been reading this blog for some time, or if you’re unlucky enough to know me, you’ll be familiar with the fiasco concerning my car. I won’t go into detail (because it’s all on this website in various blogs over the years) but in short I bought my car in 2004 and, in that time, it has broken down a few times, been crashed by me a few more times, had its roof slashed, been crashed into, been stolen, been falsely claimed on the insurance by someone else and has been the subject of a dispute between me and not just one, but two insurance companies (use the category tags below for details).

Anyhow, as I mentioned I bought this convertible back in 2004 and, as has become apparent over the years, it’s not the best car for the UK (or for me, really). The pictures below will show just one of the many problems associated with this very low down, two seater, real wheel drive convertible with low profile tyres.

The last few years have seen some pretty heavy snowfall in the UK over Christmas (probably something to do with polar bears and ice caps) and it’s made my car practically unusable for the duration. I’d have been better off with something like a 4×4 (such as the Toyota Landcruiser I once had) or even a small quad bike or ATV snow plough, which I have been looking at online!

Quad bikes aside (because they would be somewhat chilly) I have been looking at a new car in all seriousness. My BMW is about to tick over the 100,000 miles and, having owned it for 7 years, it’s probably due to be replaced. Of course, it may have 100,000 miles on the clock but the engine has actually only done about 45,000, because it was replaced after some idiot stole it while it was in for repairs and completely knackered it, so it has a new engine. Also, I may have owned it for 7 years, but for 18 months the car was in hiding because Direct Line insurance wanted to repossess it.

For the sake of argument though, it’s a 100,000 mile car that I’ve had for 7 years and it’s nearly time to swap it. So what should I get next? Something practical? Something economical? Something that just makes sense?

My experiences with the liars and cheats at Direct Line have been well documented on this website, when they paid out the wrong person after my car was stolen and how they refused to admit their mistake. Well now they’re at it again. My insurance (with Direct Line Insurance) expired in August and I’d never received any sort of renewal notice from them. It seemed as if they weren’t interested, so I simply went to a new company for my insurance.

I probably should have done that years ago in truth, Direct Line Insurance are woeful. Now, I received a letter this week from Direct Line saying I owed them money! It seems they renewed my insurance anyway without telling me, and wanted me to pay them.

I just phoned them (recording the call of course) and they said they’d sent me a renewal note, a reminder about payment and my documents! Bollocks had they. I have one letter from them here, a demand for money saying I owe them for two months.

They claim that someone from their accounts department will call me, though I won’t hold my breath. They seem to forget that I record everything.

I am not insured with Direct Line Insurance anymore. I am not giving them money. I had no renewal notice, I do not even know how much they think I’m paying for this supposed year’s insurance. I am insured with someone else, Direct Line can piss off and die.

I was certain that my MOT certificate was due for renewal very soon, so I dug around to find it today. It took me a while as I’m not that organised (it was in a bag, in a cupboard in the kitchen) and luckily I found that it’s OK until November. Great stuff.

However my car insurance certificate was there as well, from Direct Line. Now I’ve been expecting a renewal letter any day now because I knew it was about this time last year I insured the car, but I’ve not had one. Lucky I found this letter then, cos my car insurance was due TOMORROW!

That was the final straw, I’ve gone with someone else now online. Direct Line were still quite cheap (for someone of my glittering history at least) but the fact that they don’t do anything when you need them to is something of a let down.

My last claim for example, when someone reversed into me, is still in limbo because Direct Line haven’t bothered to do anything. I know they haven’t approached the security booth in the car park where the guy hit me because I’ve been there and asked.

So don’t bother with Direct Line, they just take your money and keep it.

What are the chances? The guy who reversed his Renault Espace (WV04 XNS) into my car at 9:00pm on Friday night, gave me a false mobile number. I’ve tried calling him, but the number doesn’t work. Typical eh?

The address he gave (79 Parkland Drive, Elton, CH2 4QE) is a real address, so we’ll see if that’s correct in due time. You can see it on Google Maps here.

I’ve told the insurance company (our friends at Direct Line again) that he gave a false number, and they’ve sent details to his insurance company. Let’s see what he comes back with, if anything.

OK, a few weeks back I had a prang in my car, which caused me to need a new bonnet, new bumper and some repaint work done. It was really annoying because not only did that mean I had to pay out my rather large excess, but I also had to drive around in an awful courtesy car, a Kia Placenta (or whatever the hell it was called).

So, I had my car back all shiny and new and made a pact to go at least a year without needing it fixing again, as the BMW body shop know me by name now.

However, last night it had a little bump again. This time though it wasn’t my fault. Some guy reversed into me in a car park, driving a Renault Espace. The bump didn’t seem too bad at first, but then I noticed the knock on my bumper (on the drivers side) has caused the other side of the bumper to buldge, which has pushed it out passed the headlight. Also, the side panel on the passenger side has been pushed back, causing the passenger door to catch when it’s opened.

Bloody typical. 2 weeks, that’s all I lasted, 2 weeks. Now I’ll have a damn courtesy car again. It better not be that Kia.

Well, it was supposedly all sorted this January when the financial settlement was decided and I paid her a substantial amount of money for the house and the property contained within it. One of the conditions of the settlement was that I wouldn’t mention her, or her family on any website and I wouldn’t make any attempt to get Direct Line to compensate me for the error they made as that would encourage them to reclaim the £6,000 odd they paid her.

I was happy with that. The money I’ve lost out on as a result of paying for a car loan for 18 months while the car was unusable I should be able to get back from some of the furniture in the house I’d just paid for.

However… when I entered the house in January this year, she’d stolen more items from it. More items that I’d paid for, that were noted down on a list written by her, and was signed in a court. Among the items stolen by her and her parents was a full bedroom furniture set, including two wardrobes and a chest of drawers.

I couldn’t believe it. My attempts to get hold of her solicitor proved fruitless as he’d washed his hands of her and said I’d need to go through her. She was no longer receiving legal aid so he didn’t want to know. When I got hold of her father he said she needed the stuff to sell because she didn’t have any money.

I’d just given her £10,000 cash!

Unbelievable. Well, as she’s already broken the terms of the settlement, within a matter of days it has to be said, I consider it null and void. I will now be approaching the financial ombudsman to pursue Direct Line for the full amount that I believe they owe me, and if that means they have to get the money from her, then so be it.

What’s the point in making an agreement in court, in front of a judge, and paying someone a settlement if they’re just going to steal the items you’ve just paid for? The legal system in this country is fucked up.

Firstly, Direct Line phoned up and apologised for paying out the wrong person when my car was stolen in 2006 and said they’d compensate me for it being off the road for a year as a direct result of their actions. Incredible.

Then, the Child Support Agency phoned and said they’d made a mistake and realised that actually, yes, I had been paying for my ex-wife’s house between January 07 – January 08, therefore I wasn’t actually in arrears. They’re going to refund all of the money they’ve incorrectly taken from me.

Then, and this too good to be true, BT phoned…. and the person was ENGLISH! He said that they were sorry for debiting me twice in August, and for quoting me £33 for broadband, only to then charge me £68.

But wait, there’s more. Royal & SunAlliance then phoned and said they were sorry for delaying repairing my car for a year and would be sending me a full written apology.

I need to go and have a lay down. This has all been too much this morning.

While bored yesterday we knocked out this quick TV advert for Direct Line. They paid out someone else when my car was stolen and then tried to repossess the car. This advert showcases their best points in their insurance policies.